Electric vehicles may be a cleaner mode of transport than their gasoline guzzling cousins, but their production still requires a great deal of Earth's resources. Lithium, for example, is a metal essential to the production of EVs' batteries. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, lithium mines produced an estimated global total of 100,000 metric tons in 2021, representing a peak in production.
With the production of EVs growing at an ever-increasing rate, this peak is going to have to be bettered by a considerable margin in the coming years. The demand for Lithium carbonate in 2021 was already estimated to be 465,000 metric tons. But looking ahead to 2030, with production stops on petrol and diesel vehicles looming in a number of key markets, demand is forecast to hit 2.1 million metric tons. By this stage, EVs are expected to be the main drivers of demand for lithium.
